The present invention relates generally to timepieces, such as wristwatches, and in particular, to improved constructions and methodologies to increase the versatility of such timepieces. The present invention is particularly applicable in timepieces typically referred to as “analog” or “quartz-analog,” (i.e. watches having hands for displaying time), and in particular, recognizes a novel use of the date display feature.
Typically, analog watches have one or more rings (e.g. a date ring and/or day ring) for displaying date and/or day information (as the case may be). Recently, there has been an effort to increase the ability and likelihood of maintaining accurate date and/or day information in such analog timepieces. Such timepieces incorporate what may be coined “perpetual calendar” arrangements, where the hands and the calendar ring may be directly (or indirectly) driven by motors, such as stepping motors and/or ultrasonic motors.
The assignee of the present invention is also the owner of the invention described and claimed in copending application Ser. No. 10/716,011 filed Nov. 18, 2003 entitled (“Perpetual Calendar For a Timepiece”). Described and claimed therein are embodiments that incorporate a motor driven date ring. Because the invention described and claimed therein is highly applicable to carrying out the present invention, the disclosure of this application Ser. No. 10/716,011 is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Also helpful to an understanding of the present invention is the subject matter of the following commonly owned patents, namely U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,783,773; 4,780,864; 5,555,226, and 6,420,959, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to make analog watches more functional. For example, it would be advantageous to provide analog watches with a specific timer or lap counting feature, thereby making analog watches more desirable to users.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an analog timepiece with improved functionality that overcomes the perceived deficiencies in the prior art noted above and further achieves the aforementioned and below mentioned objectives.